Furnace structure



Dec. 28, 1937. .1. A. cLAUss ET AL 2,103,234

FURNACE STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TORS.

. ATTOREYS.

E Vixmr.

Dec. 28, 1937. J A, CLAUSS ET AL A 2,103,234

FURNACE STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ORE STO H'IE M12-@9 www A TTORN E YS.

Patented Dec. 28, 1937` UNITED sTTEs .2,103,234 FURNACE STRUCTURE Julius A. clause, Detroit, and Douala E. McGuire,

, Wyandotte, Mich.

. Application December y24,' 1934, serial No. 759,022 c claims. (ol. 26a- 21) ,This invention relates to furnaces and particularly to furnaces of the retort type, the principal lobject being the provision of a furnace having a retort extending therethrough, the retort being bodily vibratable whereby material fed into one end thereof will be caused to move tothe other end thereof while under the influence of the heat within the furnace.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a furnace havinga retort extending therethrough, the retort being of a closed Section whereby the material therein is maintained out 'a of contact with the gases witllin the furnace, and means for bodily vibrating the retort to cause material therein to be advanced toward one end thereof as well as to be agitated thereby; the provision of a furnace and an elongated closd section retort extending therethrough, means including flexible connections connected with the retort at opposite ends thereof f or introducing and discharging material to and from the retort, together with suitable means for bodily vibrating the retort so as to cause a desired degree of travel of the material through the retort from one end thereof toward the other endthereof; the provision of a furnace structure as above described in which the ends of the retort are sealed against the entrance of air; the provision of a structure as above described in which 30. the ends of the retort are sealed against the enf trance of air and at least oneV endgof` which is provided with a flexible connectionfor the introduction of suitable non-oxidizing, reducing, active or other gases, into the retort during passage of the material therethrough; and the provision of a furnace having an elongated closed section retort extending therethrough and provided with operating means exteriorly of the furnace forv bodily vibrating the retort to eifect a travel of 40 material therethrough, the ends of the retort being suitably sealed and provided with'suitable means including exible connections for the lintroduction of material into one end of the retort and the dischargeof such materialfrom the opposite end thereof, together with means arranged in exibly sealed relation with respect to the -retort for introducing suitable gases thereinto for the protection of or reaction with the material within the retort, the discharge en d of the retort projecting outwardly beyondthe furnace and being provided with means for cooling the material therein before discharging such material from the retort.

The above being among the objects of the present inventionthe vsaine 'consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and then claimed, having the above and other objects in view. Y

In the accompanying drawings lwhich illustrate suitable embodiments of the present invention and in wllich like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several different views,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a furnace structure embodying vthe invention'. 10

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken centrally of the furnace shown in Fig.y 1 as on the line 2-2 thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, partially broken, partially sectioned side elevational view l5 of the discharge end of the furnace shown in the preceding view, and taken as on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken through the inlet end of 20 the furnace shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as on the'line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken transversely of the furnace` shown in'Fig. 1 as on the line 5'5thereof. t l 25 Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely through a furnace of modified construction in which a plurality of retorts are provided instead of but a single retort as in the previous VleWS. 30 Fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the path of travel of material through a furnace constructed in accordance with the ypreceding views where such furnace is adapted for production of sponge iron. 35

In the manufacture and/or preparation of certain types of materials it is desirable to heat such materials, and where the quantity of vsuch materials is relatively great it is desirable that `means be provided for heating it as it ows in a 40 relatively steady stream, and in order to hasten the eiect of the heating it is desirable to agitate f the material so 'as to obtain a more uniform effect on all portions thereof, as well as to expose4 all surfaces to the surrounding atmosphere. Addi' tionally,- certain types of materials require heating to a-relatively high degree at which temperature it is advantageous to'prevent contact of the same with air, or it may be necessary to subject f5-0 the materialwhen at such temperatureto the eiect of a non-oxidizing, neutral or even an active gas. The present invention is designed to permit such treatment of materialsv in a simple,

@ iicnt and economical manner and by appl'a' 55 .i

tus requiring a minimum of space for its installation.

It will be understood that apparatus constructedin accordance with the invention may be employed for heating material of any type in which I the individual particles are sumciently small tofpermit their ilow in more or less of a stream. and the individual particles of s uch material may vary in size from innitesimally small particles to relatively large articles, for instance, such as nuts, boltsor other machine parts. It will also be understood that the apparatus may be employed for heating materials such as sand or gravel for the purpose of drying the same and in which its exposure to air during the heating process may be favored. It will be understood, however, that the apparatus is particularly adaptable for use in connection with heating those types of materials which it is not desired to expose to the products of combustion in the furnace during the heating operation and particularly to those cases in which it is desired to maintain the material in an atmosphere of gas other than air. The application of the use of the apparatus in the production of sponge iron requires taking advantage of all the salient features of the invention and accordingly, for the purpose of illustration only, a brief description will be given of its application to such use in connection with the description of Fig. 7, it being understood that those skilled in the'art will readily understand the application of the invention for use in connection with materials of a diierent type or nature once the application of the invention for this one specific use is made known.

Referring now to the drawings, a relatively long furnace is shown and while this furnace may be of any suitable or conventional construction, that shown by way of illustration includes metallic frame units spaced longitudinally of the furnace from each other, and as best illustrated in Fig. 5, each including vertical side members l0 and interconnecting top members l2 and bottom members Il. The furnace itself includesfside walls I8, a bottom wall I0, an arched roof 20, and end walls 22 and 24 respectively, all of which are supported in spaced relation to the floor 26 by the frame umts as indicated in the gures. While any suitable means may be, employed for firing-the furnace the particular means ushown by way of illustration include ports 28 provided at intervals in one of the sidewalls I6 through which an oil or gas ame may be projected in the hollow interior of the furnace.

A retort 30 extends centrally of the hollow interior of the furnace and projects therefrom at opposite ends through openings 32 provided for that purpose and preferably in freely spaced relation with respect to the walls of said opening.

The retort 30 is shown as positioned horizontally' but, as will be obvious, may be inclined if desired for any reason. While the cross sectional shape of the retort 30 may vary within relatively wide ranges, that shown by way of illustration is a relatively shallow rectangular formation, itbeing understood that the retort is of tubular forlmation and is preferably thin and flat to better retort which are positioned within the furnace l and, therefore, subjected tothe heat Q f lill? Same are preferably constructed of heatresisting alloy metal, while those on the exterior of the furnace may be formed of any suitable material, such as steel.

It will be understood that the retort 30, as a closed chamber, is rigid and self-supporting to a degree, depending upon the design and form of the retort. Additionally the vibrating units which support it aid in maintaining the various sections together as well as to impart the necessary rigidity to it.l Particularly where the interior of the retort is to be sealed against the entrance of air the ends of the retort are closed and the feeding end, as illustrated in Fig. 4, is -provided with a suitable opening in its upper face and cooperating nipple 36 which is connected by `a flexible tube 38 to a suitable type of proporing mechanism indicated generally at 46' from which the material may\be fed to any suitable point of discharge, as for instance, the belt conveyor I8. The flexible connections permit vibratory movement of the retort 30 without affecting the connected parts. Where the material being treated should be reduced in temperature, after it has passed through the furnace and before it is discharged from the retort, the discharge end of the retort may be extended as indicated in Fig. 3 and provided with a water or other Jacket 50 throughwhich water or other cooling medium may be circulated by use of the flexible hoses 52. For use in event it is desired to exclude air from the retort 3U and to introduce a neutral or non-oxidizing gas into the retort to prevent oxidation of the material therein, or to supply a gas for active reaction with the material, one'or more additional nipples 60, opening into the interior of the retort, are preferably provided at opposite ends of the furnace and are-provided with suitable flexible tubes 62 for connection to a suit'- able source of supply of' such gas and/or to a suitable point of discharge of gas from the interior of -the retort. In this manner, and with the proper sealing type of feeding and discharge mechanism, the material being treated may be -subjected to the effects of a gaseous substance under pressure, either positive or negative if desired.

Any suitable means may be provided for supporting and vibrating the retort 3l! but it willbe understood that because of the length of theretort, in the majority of installations at least, it will be necessary to support the retort at spaced intervals along its length and that it will be necessary for all points to be vibrated in synchronism with-each other. Particularly in view of the fact that the amount of vibratory movement of the retort 30 to obtain a desired rate of feed of material through the retort will be of a relatively small amplitude, for instance as little as a sixteenth of aninch` or'less', it will be found particularly convenient to employ a plurality of electrical vibrating units of a type which are in conventional use in the trade for vibrating conveyors. Such units are illustrated inthe drawings at 10 and although they may be located at any convenient position with respect to the furnace they are shown asbeing positioned on the floor 26 below the furnace. Thev .units 'lll are preferably so spaced from each other longitudinally of the retort 30 that, as illustrated in Fig. 3 for instance, their actuating members 'i2 which operate in an angularly upward direction are positioned directly below the joint between two corresponding sections of the retort 30, and each unit 10 is secured to the retort 30 by a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending plate like members 1I preferably formed o f heat resisting alloy within the furnace at least, which are riveted as at 16' or otherwise suitably secured to the actuating member 12 of the corresponding vibrating unit 10 and are boltedor otherwise suitably secured to corresponding iianges or webs 78 projecting downwardly from the under side of theA retort 30.

While any suitable number of such webs 18 may be employed, as will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 5 three of such ribs 'or webs are shown provided in the present instance on the underside of the retort 3i) not only for the purpose of enabling the plates 14 to be secured thereto, but

Vmore particularly for the purpose of stiffening the retort against possible sagging under load and the high temperatures to which it is subjected within the furnace. the abutting ends'of the retort sections not only is the -retort suitably supported but additionally the connection between the abutting ends of the retort sections is thereby reinforced. It will be noted that the plates 14 project upwardly from the units 'l0 through suitable slots A80 provided therefor in the bottom wall I8 of the furnace, the slots BIJ being of suicientsize to permit the plates 'i4 to work freely therein but Without permitting an excessive amount of heat to escape from the furnacetherethrough The unitslll are thus positioned in such-a manner as not to be affected by the heat of the furnace. In cases where the water jacketed section is employed at the-discharge end of the retort, asbest indicated in Fig.

length of this section requires 'it any required number of vibrating units may be provided for it.

In the particular case shown with one vibrating unit 10 supporting the water jacketed discharge section of the retort 30, the'unit 10 is positioned for securement to the mid-portion of such water jacketed section and in such case the cental web of such section is deepened and tapered in thickness towards its center as indicated at 18' to provide the desirable rigidity for such section.

All of the vibrating units 'ill are connected into a common controlbox 80, as indicated in Fig. 1, so that all of the units may be caused to vibrate in synchronism with each other. It will be noted that the use of the electrical vibrating units Ill allows a wide range of flexibility in the provision of such furnaces and are adapted for any length of furnace and retort as may be required for any particular installation.

It will be readily understood that for prac- 'tical reasons thereis a limit to the width of the retort that .may be employed in a construction as above described. Accordingly, where a. larger capacity is required than may be taken care of by a single retort, instead of providing a plurality of -furnaces each with a single retort, it will be found more convenient and economical to provide a single furnace of greater width than the furnace above described and to arrange the required \number of retorts therein in properly spaced relation with respect to each other. Such a construction is illustrated in Fig. 6 in which parts corresponding to the parts previously described In joining the plates 14 to are indicated by the same numerals except that such numerals bear a'prime mark.

f The-above described apparatus is particularly useful in connection with the production of sponge iron in which case a layout such as that diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7 may be employed. As illustrated in Fig. '7,l the ore and the coke or other carbonaceousmaterial which is to be employed to reduce the ore, may be provided in separate bins or other suitable sources from which they may be fed to corresponding pulverizing mills, then each to a separate storage point, such as a bin, from each of which the required corresponding amount of material maybe fed by a proportioning feeder of conventional construction, such as the feederl 40 shown inv Fig. 4. The flow of material from the proportioning feeders for the coke and ore may then be combined and discharged into a common bin such as 86 which, of course, may be connected to the inlet side of the retort in the same manner as illustrated'in `Fig.,4. The mixture of coke and ore is thus fed in proper amounts to the retort 30 under the influence of a suitable gas therein at a pressure at which the gas is most active and as supplied or withdrawn through the flexible tubes 62, and the at which pressure the re-action between the carbon and ore is most rapid. This condition may also exist in the application of this retort lfurnace in the heating of other materials in combination with each other. The sponge iron and gangue thus formed are passed out the discharge end of the retort after being suitably cooled by the jacket 50 and are discharged from the retort where they may then be separated in any suitable manner.

, Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention describedwithout departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What we claim is: 1. In combination, a furnace, aclosed section substantially gas tight retort projecting through said furnace and extending beyond opposite ends thereof in generally spaced relation with respect to the interior walls of said furnace, means for feeding material to said retort including a fiexi-f ble connection therewith, means for discharging material from said retort including a flexible connection therewith; a plurality of electric vibrating units positioned exteriorly of said `furnace in spaced relation to each other longitudinally of said retort, means projecting througha wall of saidl furnace connecting said units and said retort whereby to bodily vibrate said retort to effect a'movement of material therethrough, and a common control means for all of said units whereby to cause them to vibrate in synchronism with each other.

2.. In combination, a furnace, anelongated retort `extending throug said furnace and projecting from opposite ends thereof and in generally spaced relation with respect to the interior walls of said furnace, means for feeding material rounding the opposite end o f said retort exteriorly of said furnace, means for discharging material from said retort, and means for bodily vibrating said retort whereby to effect a transfer of material therethrough.

3. In combination, a furnace having a longitudinally extending heating chamber, a retort of hollow closed section extending longitudinally through said heating chamber, a plurality of- Vibratory supports located beneath said furnace, the bottom walls of said heating chamber having apertures therein adjacent said supports, and means extending through each aperture interconnecting said retort with said vibratory supports whereby said supports serve to impart a longitudinally vibratory motion to said retort.

4. In combination a furnace, a closed section substantially gas-tight retort projecting through said furnace and extending beyond opposite ends thereof, said retort being disposed in generally spaced relation with respect to the interior walls of said furnace, means for feeding material and means for discharging material from said retort, a plurality of electric vibrating units positioned in spaced relation with respect to each other exteriorly of said furnace, means associated with each ofsaid vbratory units and projecting through a wall of said furnace connecting said units with said support at spaced longitudinal points throughout its length whereby said vibratory units may serve to vibrateV said retort for effecting a movement of material therethrough, and a common control means for all of said units whereby to cause them to vibrate in synchronisrn with each other. k

arcanes 5. In combination a furnace, an elongated retort extending through said furnace and projecting from opposite ends thereof,'said retort being disposed in generally spaced relation with respect to the interior walls of said furnace, means for feeding material into one end of said retort, a water jacket surrounding the opposite end of said retort exteriorly of said furnace, means for discharging material from said retort, and means comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced vibratory supports for supporting said retort in said furnace and bodily vibrating the` same to effect a transfer of material therethrough.

6. In combination', a furnace, an elongated retort extending through said furnace and projecting from opposite ends thereof, said retort being disposed in generally spaced relation with respect to the interior walls of said furnace, means for feeding material into one end of said retort,

JULIUs A. CLAUss. DONALD E. MCGUIRE. 

